The Treasury has unveiled proposals to blackball suppliers from bidding for lucrative public sector contracts if they have crossed swords with Revenue & Customs over certain aggressive tax structures in the past 10 years.

From April, would-be government contractors must declare in their bid paperwork if they have used a tax structure that HMRC objected to and was either defeated at tribunal or led to an out-of-court settlement in the last decade. Civil servants can then bar contractors from Whitehall contracts if they are not satisfied the firms have reformed their approach to tax paying.

Treasury secretary Danny Alexander said the new rules would create "another significant tool" in the battle to stem aggressive forms of tax avoidance. "They will enable government departments to say no to firms bidding for government contracts where they have been involved in failed tax avoidance."

Francis Maude, the cabinet minister overseeing all major government procurement deals, said: "It is only right we ensure that only companies which are meeting their tax obligations can win government contracts … These new rules provide a framework that allows departments to promote tax compliance through the bidding process."

The move comes two weeks after Margaret Hodge, chair of parliament's public accounts committee, attacked contract awards to big accountancy firms which, she said, were among the most active in inventing schemes to minimise tax bills for companies doing business in the UK. "I think it is questionable whether you should get public contracts," she told top tax experts from Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG. Her committee heard how these four firms make almost £490m annually from public sector work in Britain.

However, large accountancy firms will not face blackballing on account of advice offered to clients under the rules proposed. Nor will the rules penalise some of the most controversial multinational corporations – including Apple, Google, Amazon, Starbucks and others – who have been criticised in recent years for exploiting differences in international tax regimes to lower their overall tax bill.

Lawyers and tax experts were quick to voice concern about how the rules might be enforced. Jason Collins of solicitors Pinsent Masons said the proposals give "too much influence" to civil servants. "Lots of [companies] will be captured by this over the last 10 years. The question will be: have they got the mitigating factors in place [to persuade HMRC to waive a ban]."

PwC raised concerns that the proposals may introduce an element of discrimination, which would be in breach of European law. "It will be important to ensure that … unfair discrimination doesn't result. Although the government says it will look at equivalent foreign tax rules when reviewing overseas suppliers, the rules are not directly comparable. Long standing UK-based companies who have responded to the public concerns could be put at a disadvantage against overseas new entrants."